The United States Geological Survey (USGS) shows the quake was detected just 23 kilometres from Sungjibaegam, a town close to the Punggye-ri nuclear test site and added that it can not confirm whether the earthquake was natural or man-made.

North Korea's deficit with China more than tripled in the first nine months of the year from the same period in 2016, to US$1.07 billion, Huang told a news conference, according to Bloomberg News. According to the US Geological Survey, there isn't enough information to conclude the nature of the natural disaster yet.

Thursday's quake marked the country's fourth since an underground nuclear test in the Punggye-ri region on September 3, which caused a 6.3 magnitude tremor.

And the region has since been hit by a series of landslide and tremors in the wake of the incident. It came three weeks after a 3.5-magnitude quake struck near the same area, with seismic experts and a United Nations nuclear test ban watchdog calling that tremor on September 23 a likely aftershock of the North's sixth and largest nuclear test.

According to South Korea's weather agency, a small quake was detected, on Friday (10/13/2017), near North's nuclear test site, but unlike a nuclear-related quakes, the quake did not appeared to be a man-made one. "If it goes ahead with another test in this area, it could risk radioactive pollution".

This latest tremor came three weeks after a 3.5-magnitude quake struck near the same area. On September 3, Pyongyang announced a successful test of a hydrogen bomb. These disturbances are more numerous and widespread than seen after any of the North's previous tests. There is also a chance the nuclear tests could trigger a volcanic eruption at Mt. Paektu, which is a mountain about 60 miles away from the Punggye-ri region, CBS reported.

"The recent small quakes suggest that the test might have triggered crust deformation".

October 13, 2017Equifax denies its website was hacked again, blames vendor
The confirmation that Equifax allowed compromised software on its website is the latest embarrassment for the company. Equifax has taken down one of its web pages after reports that another part of its web site had been hacked as well.

October 13, 2017Hurricane Ophelia Moving At Snail's Pace To Northeast
It will coincide with the 30th anniversary of the Great Storm of 1987, which hit southern England overnight on October 15. The hurricane center's five-day forecast, which can change, has Ophelia heading toward the British Isles by Monday.

October 20, 2016Aaron Rodgers: Packers Must Get Passing Game Going
There were definite moments of greatness in some of their games; they simply lacked the consistency to deliver wins. And Packers fans will gladly cheer for all the changes emerging if their team actually begins delivering results.